MORE than 100 letters raising issues such as the smell and the appearance of Albury landfill have been submitted to Surrey County Council to consider as part of a consultation.

Last month, waste management company SITA UK handed the council an environmental report and planning application to restore and landscape the Albury quarry and landfill site in Shere Road.

Having put up with trucks going through the village, bad smells and an eyesore on the green belt land for at least 10 years, Albury parishioners are hoping that this planning consultation will address their concerns and ensure that the restoration work putting the landscape back to its original state can be completed as soon as possible.

To encourage people to take part in the consultation, the Albury Village Residents’ Association (AVRA) sent forms to all those living in and around the village, urging them to make their opinions about the site known.

Mat Lethbridge, spokesman for AVRA, was among those campaigning for people to make representations.

He said: “The smell has been here about 10 years, depending on where the wind’s going, and I think it has been getting steadily worse.

“Depending on where people live in Albury, other people are also concerned with the way it looks.

"The reason we have had such an overwhelming response regarding the Albury landfill restoration is because local people would like to see Surrey County Council take full responsibility in ensuring that SITA are fully accountable for returning Albury village to its former natural beauty with no conditions overlooked regarding odour, noise and appearance.

“After years of profit-making activities, that is the least we are owed.”

Altogether, 110 neighbours have sent letters to the county council.

Quarry work has been going on at the Albury sandpit site, just to the north of the village, for many years.

In 1989, permission was granted to extend the quarry to dig an extra six million tonnes of sand from it over a period of 30 years.

And three years later, Gasrec was allowed to build an industrial complex there to make biofuel from the organic matter being taken to the site.

Albury Parish Council has also written a letter asking that strict timescales should be imposed for the completion of the restoration.

Parish clerk Joanna Cadman said: “The odour from the landfill has been the biggest complaint of residents. SITA should be required to monitor this at the site and in the surrounding area.”

Surrey County Council said that it could not comment on the application while it was still being decided.

The SITA application states that the existing restoration scheme relates to the pre-settlement contours of the site and requires that the landfill area must be restored to forestry.

It states: “This application proposes restoration of the landfill site to woodland and heathland.”